Everton have been boosted by the news that Abdoulaye Doucouré looks set to remain with the Blues rather than go to the Africa Cup of Nations with Mali in January.
The 30-year-old, who recently tied himself to the club until 2025 by signing a two-year contract extension, had been expected to be called up by Mali head coach Eric Sékou Chelle but he has effectively ruled himself out in quotes attributed to him by Click Liverpool.
“I don’t think I’m going to make the Africa Nations Cup, to be honest,” Doucouré said. “I think I’m going to stay here in an Everton shirt. I don’t want to go.
“It’s not a big, big decision because I went only one time for the Mali national team. I want to focus really on my career and on the club.
“I have all the respect for my country, but I am going to stay here.”
Born in France and capped by Les Bleus from Under-17 all the way to Under-21 level, Doucouré switched his allegiance to Mali last year and played in a World Cup qualifier against Tunisia but a recent report by Sport News Africa provided an indication that all was not well where his relationship with his new country’s federation was concerned.
Doucouré was overlooked by Chelle for the AFCoN qualifiers which began in 2022 on the grounds that he wasn’t 100% fit, with the newly-appointed Mali coach blaming the fact that he had been given pain-killing injections to get through the end of the 2021-22 season as Everton battled relegation.
“Abdoulaye Doucouré has been playing for 3 months on injections with his team, who were trying to stay up,” Chelle is quoted as saying of the midfielder. “They forced him to play on cortisone with infiltration and now I don’t want to take any risks. He’s not 100%.”
By the time the next round of qualifiers came round earier this year, Chelle put his decision not to include the former Watford man down to the wealth of midfield options at his disposal.
As a result, Sport News Africa say that Doucouré is no longer in contact with the Mali national team and has not responded to their calls or messages which suggests that his brief involvement with senior international football is already over.
It’s a positive development for Sean Dyche who stands to lose Idrissa Gueye for as long as six weeks in January as he participates in the bi-annual tournament with Senegal.